Flowers
by DemigodDaughterOfTheTARDIS
Summary: He still brings her flowers... even after she's long gone. Eleventh in the 'Remembering A Forgotten Song' series.


_Number Eleven: Flowers_

11/River and 12/River

 **A/N~ Hello, my lovelies! I am so so so sorry that its taken me this long to update this series, I feel truly awful about it. My muse has been lacking lately, and school has kept me super busy.**

It had become something of a legend around Luna University - except that there was undeniable proof that this was real.

Everyone at LU had heard the story of Professor River Song - how she had been one of the best professors that the university had ever had, until the day that she went on an expedition to the Library. And then she never came back.

They all knew what had happened to her, of course - it was the Vashta Nerada. But somehow, she was saved. Saved to the Library's data core, in fact. She had been found nearly two hundred years later, after the Vashta Nerada had died out from starvation. Her consciousness was in the Data Core, she just needed a body, but for some reason no suitable material could be found to make a clone.

For months after the expedition, Luna University had been miserable. Not only because of the loss of Professor Song, but also because of the loss of her team - Anita, and the Daves. Her students could be seen bursting into tears at random moments, and nearly the entire student body, along with many of the school's alumni, were at her memorial.

Even centuries later, her office was still there, in the same condition that she had left it in (although the caretaker did clean it once a week, just to get rid of the dust) just in case there was a way that she could come back.

But that was only part of the legend. The rest of it was a bit more romantic.

Every year without fail, two bouquets of flowers would appear overnight - one bouquet in the Professor's office, and the other at her memorial on campus. They would appear three times a year, on the same dates - February fourteenth, April twenty-second, and June tenth. Always on those days, and always two bouquets of twelve flowers each. Each flower was different - a rhododendron, a forget-me-not, a gladiolus, a jasmine flower, a larkspur, a red rose, a purple hyacinth, a fir, a cattleya orchid, a dark crimson rose, a yellow tulip, and a red salvia.

Some speculated that it was one of the other faculty members - a way to keep a tradition alive and to honour a fallen hero. Others thought that it was a silly prank that some of the students played - to frighten new students with tall tales about ghosts. Still others thought that maybe it was a lover of the Professor's - it was rumoured that she had been married, after all…..

8888

 _River loved flowers,_ he thought sadly as he entered the shop once more, gathering up the strength required to do the task ahead.

"Hello there, sir!" the chipper young woman behind the counter said, and he glared at her. Of course there would be someone new behind the counter today. Everyone else who worked here knew by now to never be perky and bubbly with him. That was part of why he always came here. The other part was that this was her favourite place for flowers in the universe.

"Yes, I'm here to collect my usual order." he said, his bouncy and childish nature gone. The girl looked at him in confusion, as she absentmindedly tucked a strand of pale pink hair - which contrasted nicely with her light green complexion - behind her ear.

"I'm sorry sir, but what would that be?" she asked, still oozing with sweetness.

The Doctor huffed in irritation before rattling it off. "A red rose, a cattleya orchid, a dark crimson rose, a forget-me-not, a rhododendron, purple hyacinth, a gladiolus, jasmine, fir, a yellow tulip, a red salvia, and larkspur." he said, adding, "don't need a vase."

The poor girl - scared half to death by the intense glare that the Doctor was giving her - arranged them all and rang it up before getting the nerve up to ask him a question.

"Its an odd combination, sir. If you don't mind me asking, why these flowers?"

For the first time since entering the little flower shop, the young man with the old eyes smiled. "They all have meanings, you see." he said, his hard and tired voice sounding almost….. fond.

And with that, he paid for his order and left.

8888

Even after all these centuries, the Doctor still came here three times a year to give his wife flowers. He was old and grey now, but didn't care - he was sure that she would have appreciated that they appeared to be closer in age now.

He knelt down beside the memorial stone that was now weathered with age, and took the old, withered flowers out of the TARDIS blue vase, refilling it with water before he began to put the flowers in. As he did every time that he came, he explained why he had chosen the flowers.

"Hello, dear." he started, his Scottish accent sounding worse than usual because of emotion. "I brought you flowers. Yes, I know you always say that you don't like them, but we both know that that's a lie. After all, you were the one who taught me what they mean."

He stopped and cleared his throat before continuing. "So here you go, lass…. a red rose, for the love and respect that I've always had for you, even if it wasn't always obvious. Red salvia, to say you are forever mine, just like I'm forever yours. A yellow tulip, because I have always been hopelessly in love with you - that started at the Byzantium, I think. Some flowers to describe you: cattleya orchid, for mature charm - like Bow Tie always said, you are _yowzah_ ; gladiolus, for strength of character - you are the strongest woman I've ever known. Jasmine, for grace and elegance - no matter what was chasing us, or how many times that I tripped over you, you still managed to be graceful; and larkspur, for your beautiful spirit. And of course," he paused, chuckling softly, "rhododendron, the flower for danger. The perfect flower for my bespoke psychopath, isn't that right, lass?"

His smile faded after that, and the forlorn air returned.

"A deep crimson rose," The Doctor said slowly, sadly. "for mourning. It's been several centuries now since I saw you, but I still mourn you." He carefully placed that one in the vase along with its fellows.

"A forget-me-not, of course to say that I'll never forget you." A single tear slid slowly down his cheek, and he made no effort to get rid of it.

"A purple hyacinth, to tell you…." he took a deep breath. No matter what face he had, this was always hard for him to say. "I'm sorry. Sorry that I couldn't save you back then, and that I still haven't figured it out. Sorry that I wasn't a better husband, that I didn't tell you I loved you anywhere near enough."

"Finally, a fir. Not exactly the most romantic thing - its practically a twig. Actually, it is a twig, But once I saw what it meant, I thought it was fitting." he admitted, as he went to stand up. "A fir branch, because it means time."

And as he walked back to the TARDIS, he said softly, "Because time was the one thing we never had enough of."

 **A/N~ Thank you all for reading! Shout out to rcfan77 for reviewing The Singing Towers! Also, from now on, each time that I post a new part of this series, there will be a list of people who reviewed the last one at the bottom.**


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